"Since ancient times, the LODESTONE has been held in high
regard as a Powerful Amulet and all-around Good Luck Charm
because its Magnetic Influences are supposed to attract
Power, Favors, Love, Money, and Gifts. Our LODESTONE
dressing oil, incense, sachet powders, and crystals for bath
or floor wash all contain pieces of genuine live LODESTONE!"

Lodestones -- chunks of naturally magnetic iron ore -- are prized in folk-magic for
their "drawing" power. They are a vital ingredient in African-American
hoodoo practice,
and that has in turn influenced Latin American "budu" magic, in which they
are known as "piedra
iman."

Smaller Lodestones of gravel or frit size, dressed with magnetic
sand, are carried singly or in pairs in mojo bags to attract luck and love;
tiny pairs are placed in bottles of Van VanOil,
Lodestone Oil or
Fast Luck Oil
to lend their attraction-energy the oils before they are used to dress
offertory candles or anoint
an individual.

King Novelty, like its sister companies, Famous Products (makers of Lucky Brown cosmetics) and Valmor Beauty Co. (makers of
Sweet Georgia Brown cosmetics), and its competitors Jan-O-Sun (makers of hoodoo and Christian
religious candles) and Standard O and B Supply Company (a competing distributor
of hoodoo and Christian religious "curios," herbs, candles, and books), was
located in Chicago and marketed its wares nation-wide to the African-American
community. The text accompanying this catalogue page is carefully worded to avoid
violating federal postal fraud laws, but by reading between the lines, the value
of Lodestones in hoodoo magic is made clear:

ALIVE WITH MAGNETISM

A Lodestone has been
held in high regard by the Ancient Romans, Chinese, Mohamedans, and other people
as a Powerful Amulet and GOOD LUCK Charm; probably because the
Magnetic Influence of this Stone was supposed to ATTRACT Power,
Favors and Gifts. It is said that the Ancient Romans believed that Lodestone kept
Husband and Wife faithful, and made their Love secure. We make no claims
to this effect -- or that the LODESTONE is LUCKY. We have taken the
Genuine Lodestone, especially prepared it, and called it WHITE
LODESTONE. Two pieces of Specially Prepared WHITE LODESTONE for $1.00. [Note: that's a 1945 price -- cat.]

Another colourful Lodestone ad in the same catalogue supplies more information about the Lodestone as a hoodoo
amulet. In keeping with King Novelty's attempt to avoid prosecution by presenting
the material as a "curio," the advertisement was written in the past tense and no claims were
made as to the Lodestone's efficacy. The manner of use described is the same today as it was in 1945, and earlier:

Hoo-Doo Men made Conjure Bags in which they placed Lodestone
for Hoodooing, Driving Away Evil Spirits, or so-called Goodbye Enemy
Tricks, Job Getting, and general Good Luck. We have known many people
who would not be without carrying a LODESTONE. We have found this to be
especially true among folks that do Gambling, Play Horses, and Number Games of
Chance, and who wish to win in Love Affairs. We do not sell this
LODESTONE for any of these purposes, and make no claim that it is Lucky or
that it will drive away Evil Spirits, but sell only as a Curio. We have specially
prepared LODESTONE in different colors and you may now order the colors
you wish.

The colour symbolism of the Lodestones advertised by King
in 1945 is congruent with the colour symbolism used in other hoodoo
practices, such as candle
burning. In other words, the stones themselves were painted various colours for use
in attracting the several kinds of luck, including love-drawing (red),
money-drawing (green, gold, and silver), magical protection and blessings (white), serenity
(blue), and dominating power over others (black).

The label to the right is for another long-defunct King Novelty product,
Mo-Jo Brand Lodestone in Van Van
Oil. The combination of bright green and red bands against a
stylized four-leaf clover
design indicates that this magnetized oil was suitable for drawing
either money-luck or love-luck.

Lest it be assumed that Lodestone charms were or are exclusively
African-American in distribution, it should be noted that an
advertisement in "Thrilling Love Stories" Vol. XXXIX, No. 3
(October, 1941) advertised "LODESTONE $1.00 pair" from the T.
Messick company of Camden, New Jersey. No explanation of the
product's use was given. "Thrilling Love Stories" was a general
circulation pulp magazine aimed primarily at young Caucasian
women.

As i was taught in hoodoo in Oakland, California circa 1965 (and see
also H. M. Hyatt's oral histories for further confirmatory references, if you
can dig through the non-indexed pages), a male Lodestone is pyramidal or
pointed and a female Lodestone is cubical or rounded. Size is not
relevant, and, in fact, the stones should be roughly equal in size and
weight.

In performing love spells and sex magic,
one uses a pair of Lodestones of the
appropriate gender(s) to represent the parties for whom the spell is
being cast. In working these love spells, the stones are typically named and
then dressed with a condition oil, sexual fluids, or alcohol, and/or fed
with magnetic sand (fine iron grit), depending on the practitioner's
preferred methods.

It is a lot more difficult than you may think, by the way, to match up
Lodestones in pairs, whether male-female, female-female, or male-male.
We buy Lodestones by the hundreds (we usually have at least two 5-gallon
buckets filled with them in stock) and each pair intended for use in
love spells must be carefully
matched with a partner before they can
be sold. We usually spend an hour at this task every time we need to put
up a batch of Lodestones; it's a dirty, messy job that leaves one's
hands all covered with black iron dust. Because it takes a long time and
is dirty, some botanica and spiritual supply store owners will not mess
with matching Lodestones -- instead they leave an assortment of stones
out on a tray and the customers make their own matches -- if they can
make them, from the limited stock they are shown.

The matching process consists of sprinkling the Lodestones very lightly
with magnetic sand to visually reveal their magnetic polarities, and
then, by trial and error, finding pairs in which two edges join together
well along their planar, convex, or concave surfaces AND also have the
proper positive-negative charges that allow them to "draw" or attract
along these selected surfaces. Once a matched pair is found, it is put
aside, bagged, and tagged "male-female," "male-male," or
"female-female." I have often been asked whether Lodestones can be used for gay and lesbian sex
magic. The answer is yes -- any two "female" or "male" Lodestones
will also draw to each other -- you just have to turn one of them
the other way!!!

Some Lodestones, even though they carry a very good magnetic charge,
cannot be matched up at all, due to irregularities in shape (typically,
they "draw" from a point, not an edge). Those unmatchable Lodestones
cannot be used in love spells or sex magic but are
excellent when sold as singles for use in money spells, where only one stone is
required.

There are two old-time traditions associated with storing Lodestones that should not be overlooked.
To understand them, you need to know that some metals are
magnetizable and some are not. The ferrous metals -- steel,
iron, galvanized "tin" roofing (actually zinc-coated steel) --
are magnetizable. The non-ferrous metals (brass, real tin,
bronze, copper, aluminum, chrome) are not magnetizable.

I was taught to keep Lodestones stored in non-magnetizable containers
to avoid "draining" the magnetism from the stones. The containers can
be made of non-metallic substances (wood, glass, or (ugh!)
plastic), or of non-ferrous metal.

At the Lucky Mojo shop we use big brass buckets
for displaying our Lodestones and they sit on wooden
shelving. These brass buckets are the kind that fancy
dried flower arrangements come in from the florist.
Craft and fabric stores sell them new, but you can
pick them up used at thrift stores for a couple of
bucks each. In my home i use a chrome-plated brass
art deco candy dish with red Catalin plastic handles
to keep my working pair of love Lodestones.

Also, even when displaying Lodestones for sale, it is customary to
give them a light sprinkle of
magnetic sand to
feed them and make matching them possible. We don't want the Lodestones in our care
to "starve" while they
are waiting to go to their new homes.

People who work with large Lodestones often ask me if, after a spell has been completed,
the stones must be buried or discarded, or if they can be re-used, or
"repurposed" for a new spell.

First, while it is common practice to wash Lodestones periodically in whiskey
or Hoyt's Cologne, it is much
less common to train them to work one way and then try to
re-train them to work another way. Here are my opinions on
such work, based on traditional teachings and on many years of working
with these stones:

I have never had luck taking a mated pair of love Lodestones
apart and trying to use one singly for money. That is a
non-starter for me.

I have never had luck trying to use a dedicated money Lodestone
as part of a paired set for love.

When working conjure for clients of mine who are couples, i do NOT
NOT re-baptize my large paired love Lodestones for each new client couple. I
have serious, strong, and symbolically deep reasons for not
working that way.

What i do is get a packet of small grit Lodestones -- "riders" --
and keep them on hand to represent clients for whom i am working.
One packet of small grit-sized Lodestones will last for YEARS --
for DECADES.

At the outset of the work, the magnetic Lodestone grits or riders
are baptized for each member of the client couple and then they
are set on their respective stones. Each little grit rides along
on top of one of the big magnetic rocks as they are fed with
magnetic sand and come together
through the love spell working.

When the big love stones are united, the riders come together
too, and they are then gently removed from the big stones and
bound PERMANENTLY by being placed in a
lucky mojo bag or a locket charm, or
buried together. In this way, they are not pulled apart when the
big stones are re-used, and the work of uniting the clients is
never symbolically undone.

After the riders are bound together, the big stones are allowed
to rest together in union in their bed of
magnetic sand, until i
need them to work again. Then i gently separate them and bathe
them and set newly baptized client-riders on them and they go
again.

My big stones help train the riders, and the clients benefit from
that -- as well as from the fact that their little grit stones
are together FOREVER.

When i was growing up, i was always taught -- by many, many different workers, in various
parts of the country -- that Lodestones not only need to be fed, but that about
once a year, or oftener if you are using the same large stones on behalf of love
clients, as described above, they need to be bathed and cleaned. The magnetic sand
or anvil dust that was used to feed them all year
must be carefully brushed off of them and set aside (it can be cleaned of dust-bunnies
and re-used) and then they should be washed in Whiskey or in
Hoyt's Cologne.

I assumed that everyone knew this -- and that if they didn't know how,
they would allow me to teach it to them -- but somehow, starting around the year 2005 or so,
a bunch of young folks began telling me that i was wrong and that
they had learned all about "soaking" their Lodestones overnight to "cleanse" them. Note that the
words "soaking" and "cleansing" (which is spiritually different than "cleaning")
were being used -- terms i had never encountered in the
hoodoo
community. Later -- by about 2009, when i started the
Lucky Mojo Forum, folks kept posting about "soaking" their
Loadstones, but a new wrinkle had been added -- now they
were telling each other to "soak them in Lemon juice to cleanse them."
This was also around the trime that folks began asking me how to "repurpose" Lodestones (see above).
Obviously there is some wacky internet source that these folks are tuning
in to that treats Lodestones as some sort of tool that can be "repurposed" like
a shovel or a crock-pot, and also treats the Lodestones as
subject to some sort of contamination that requires that they
be "cleansed" with citrus products.

When i protested, telling these folks that whatever they were into here, it was
not Southern-style African American
hoodoo,
they came back on me, saying that they had
"read it on the internet." It must be true. Now, i am not
here to cause a fuss with anyone, but i will draw the line on this
one: in my opinion, soaking Lodestones in water overnight is a dumb idea, and
soaking them in Lemon juice overnight is an outright stupid idea.

Why?

Think!

If you soak a Lodestone in water or sprinkle it with water, it will
RUST.

If you soak a Lodestone in Lemon juice or sprinkle it with Lemon
juice, it will CORRODE.

You can find a lot of really ignorant so-called magi(k)al advice on
the internet, in occult shops, and from friends. I'm not saying i am
the be-all and end-all of knowledge here -- i'm just saying don't
take the advice of ignorant people.

There are practical and magical reasons why we use whiskey or
Hoyt's Cologne
to bathe our Lodestones: they are alcohol-based and
alcohol evaporates quickly and the Lodestones do not rust or corrode.

You can dip or dribble on them, according to your own denomination's
method of baptism (full immersion or sprinkling) or you can
mouth-spray them, if you work in that sort of tradition.

Soaking is not what i was ever taught -- and here's why: You don't
leave a baby soaking in the bath-water -- you wash him with a
wash-cloth or in a tub, but you never walk off and leave the baby
alone in the tub. You wouldn't leave your pet dog to soak in the tub
either -- you'd either hose her down or scrub her in the tub. These
Lodestones are alive. Treat them as such.

Hundreds of years of traditional African American folk wisdom and
magical practice should not be overthrown in a day by ignorant
internet wannabes.

Listen to your elders, both online and in your community,
and don't follow behind fools who are making mud-pies and
calling them crepes suzettes.

The following hoodoo
Lodestone spell can be used for drawing anything you want, whether it is
money, romance, sex, marriage, a new car, business success, a child,
a job, the return of a lost lover, or you-name-it.

You need one large Lodestone, a china plate, a packet of
magnetic sand, some sort of drawing oil, and a piece
of
paper torn from a brown grocery sack. Write your
wish on the paper, being as specific as possible about your
wants, and sign it with your name. Get a picture of what
you desire (a drawing, a photograph, or even an advertisement torn from a magazine). If
your desire is for more money, use a dollar bill
as your "picture" and add it to your written wish.

Place the wishing paper and the picture or money on the plate and set
the Lodestone on top. Pray over the Lodestone, stating your wish
clearly, and then feed the Lodestone with a pinch of magnetic sand. The
idea is to get the Lodestone to understand your wish and to work on your
behalf, drawing the desire toward you. When you have finished praying,
put the plate and everything on it away where no one will see it,
perhaps under your bed or in a drawer.

Every day take out the plate with the Lodestone and papers, pray over
it, and feed the Lodestone with magnetic sand, stating
your wish clearly. When your wish comes true, thank the
Lodestone respectfully and bury it in your yard with its magnetic sand and all
the papers, still on the plate.

The popularity of Lodestones in
hoodoo, conjure, and rootwork practices has led to
their being used in a variety of other spiritual supplies.
Lodestone is also prepared in the form of anointing and dressing oil, spiritual incense, scented sachet powders, and ritual bathing and cleaning supplies. Each
bottle or packet of these products should contain small pieces of magnetic Lodestone, plus other
essential herb extracts. (Beware of modern so-called
"Lodestone" products that are made up of nothing
more than synthetic oils, dyes, and fragrances; real Lodestone spiritual
supplies MUST contain pieces of magnetic Lodestone.)

The label shown here is from a Lucky Mojo brand LodestoneVigil Candle,
burned by those who wish to draw love to them and elicit love from those to whom
they are attracted. The same herbs and fragrances used to dress this candle for
customers and clients are the basis of Lucky Mojo Lodestonedressing oil . used for
anointing oneself, fixing the home, preparing
pink or red
offertory candles or feeding a
mojo bag. These herbs
and scents also can be found in Lodestoneincense powder,
sachet powder, and
bath crystals.

Like the rest of the
Lucky Mojo line, this product contains genuine herbal essential oils,
not synthetic fragrances.
Lucky Mojo labels are adapted from vintage packaging and in many cases
the images are as traditional as the ingredients themselves.

Lodestone is one of a family of related formulas that also includes
Magnet and
Attraction
products. Each one of these old-time recipes is slightly different -- some
placing emphasis on passion, others on physical attractiveness, or control of a
lover, or all of these combined with good fortune and luck at love and romance --
but they have in common the underlying aim of enhancing one's internally
generated forces, enabling action upon the external world.

How you choose to use Lodestone spiritual supplies is, of course, up to
you, but one very traditional method is to employ them in conjunction with the
23rd Psalm, while praying for all that is desired.

PSALM 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil for thou art with me.
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil.
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Amen.

GENERAL LODESTONE SPELL SUGGESTIONS

There are thousands of specific spells that employ a variety of
hoodoo spiritual
supplies. Here are some of the ways you can use Lodestone brand spiritual
supplies to attract the love you desire.

PREPARATION

You may perform spells for increasing seductiveness, rulership over men, or
passionate love whenever you desire. If the need is not urgent, you can take
time to align your spell-casting with cosmic forces and work by a
Waxing Moon Phase,
so that the Moon
grows bigger while you work. But don't let the
Moon Phases hold
you back: if the timing is not right, you can do the work whenever it is best
for you.

BATHING WITH HERBAL BATH CRYSTALS

Before dawn dissolve half the packet of LodestoneBath Crystals into a
tub of hot water. Pour the water over your head 9 times as you say the 23rd
Psalm and name what you want. Air-dry yourself and collect a basin of the used
bath water, which now has your essence in it. Dress in fresh, clean clothes,
carry the basin of bath-water to a crossroads and throw the water toward the
sunrise in the East. Walk back home and don't look back.

SPRINKLING WITH SACHET POWDERS

Dust your body, the letters you send to your lover, or your socks and shoes
with LodestoneSachet
Powder, or sprinkle a pinch of LodestoneSachet Powder in the
four corners of the room (or the bed) where you plan to meet with those whom you
wish to infuence. Each time, say the 23rd Psalm and name what you want.

SMOKING WITH INCENSE

Make the Lodestone
Incense Powders into cones (use a twist of paper or a small
candle snuffer cone,
pack the incense in
with your finger, and turn it out of the cone) or place it loose on a brazier.
Many people find that keeping a pot of
Incense smoking while
they work increases their ability to break through into a spiritual space or
magical way of working.

SETTING CANDLES AS PRAYER LIGHTS

Depending on what or whom you wish to draw to you, carve your full
name on an appropriately coloured Offertory Candle or
Figural Candle and dress the
candle with
LodestoneOil. As you
dress it, speak aloud your petition, such as, "With the help and grace of God,
my needs are met, my desires are fulfilled, amen."

You may burn the
candle in sections (generally 15 minutes at a time) or let it burn
through to the end, no matter how long it takes. If you burn it in sections, you
may fnd it a good idea to light and burn the
incense each time as
well.

If you want the spell to be ongoing, or want a light at home to "back you up"
while you are about your business, you would be better off to use a fixed and
prepared LodestoneGlass Encased Vigil
Candle. Write your petition on paper, write the name of the man you are
working on, cross it with your name written 9 times, and set the
Vigil Light
in a safe place, such as the sink, bath tub, or shower stall, where it will not
cause any problems while you are out.

DRESSING YOUR CLOTHING

Whenever it is convenient for you, dissolve the remaining half of the
bath crystals in hot
water and add the liquid to the rinse water when you do your laundry, especially
your underwear and stockings. When you wear these clothes, you will be "dressed"
for attracting what you want in the way of material goods, beauty,
wealth, luck, attention, respect, or love.

CLEANING UP

It is important to properly
dispose of ritual
remains. Because these are magic spells for good luck, you may want to
keep the remains around your home. Wrap up any left-over
candle wax,
incense ashes, and
used sachet powders
in a piece of cloth. Secure and tie it with thread or string. Bury it in your
back yard.

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